Lunar
by Lonewolf47SV
Summary: Ash is on his final mission to become a master and Brock gets kidnapped and blackmailed into crushing Ash forever. While the future of the Earth is on the line Ash must make the choice between saving Misty or millions of people. AAML
1. Chapter 1

Lunar Chapter One

Ash sat in the locker room not moving a muscle. He was silently thinking to himself. Mentally going through every tactic, strategy, and counter attack that may be needed to use in this battle. His heart was pounding out of his chest. It was beating a lot faster than usual before an important match. Ash was always excited before a battle sure, but this was different. Much different. He was terrified. Absolutely everything he's done up until this point would go down the drain if he lost. This battle is one of the most anticipated, most talked about battles in history. Nothing in the last decade had come close. For the past month he's had reporters at his door looking for insight and comments from him. Everywhere he went he was surrounded by fans inquiring about the battle and giving him support. Every hour spent training his body, his pokemon, his mind was for this battle alone. This was it. He would show what he was made of today. His mind was flooded by the pressure that this battle presented.

"I'm losing focus." He cursed himself. He looked at the clock. Twenty five minutes until the battle began.

Suddenly he heard a knock on the door. How did anybody get through security? He gave specific orders to be left alone.

"Who is it!" He asked, clear annoyance engraved in his voice.

"Ash it's me." The familiar voice said.

_Professor Oak?_

Ash opened the door for his professor.

"Hello Ash. Do you have a moment?

"Only because it's you, Sam." Ash smirked knowing how the professor disliked being called by his first name."

"Funny…may I come in?" The professor asked impatiently.

"Oh of course. Sorry about that." Ash led the professor into the locker room to some leather arm chairs.

"They sure keep you comfortable in here don't they?" The professor said as he looked around. The locker room had some cherry red wood lockers for ash with a plasma screen at the end of the room. A paused dvd on the screen showed Ash's opponent during one of his battles at the Kanto Pokemon League tournaments. Professor Oak pressed one of the buttons on the arm chair and his legs were slowly lifted and his body inclined. "I could get used to this," he chuckled.

"Professor…I don't mean to be rude, but what did you come here for?" Ash asked carefully. "You're not one to give me pep talks or try to pump me up before a match."

"Oh that's right," Professor Oak laughed. "Forgive me, must be my old age. Starting to forget things you know."

"I have only twenty minutes before my match starts…"

"Sorry sorry...I will be expeditious. Now Ash, I just have one thing I wanted to talk about. Well…give you as a matter of fact." The Professor reached into his white lab coat and pulled out a small black box and handed it to Ash. "Very simple instructions, Ash. Open this box _only_ if you win today's battle."

And with that the world renowned Professor stood up in a hurry and walked out of the locker room, closing the door behind him.

Ash stared at the little black box a bit dumb founded. That was weird. He wondered what might be in it. As he inspected the box he noticed it had a key hole. "How am I supposed to open this if I win?" Ash quickly put the box into his backpack. He would worry about that later. He had a match to win.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"_Well alright ladies and gentleman! The match starts in about ten minutes! Please stay tuned in for the exciting battle between two of the best trainers in the world!" _ The announcer screamed through the television.

"C'mon Ash. I know you got this."

Brock sat in front of his television waiting for the match to begin. He had not been able to attend because of his obligations in Sinnoh, where he had opened his own company selling the highest quality pokemon food. All his private recipes of course.

Chips? Check. Sandwhich? Check. Beer….

"Ugh. In the fridge…" Brock reluctantly stood up to find his beverage before the match started.

_Tap tap_

The sound startled Brock. He froze and looked around his apartment. It seemed to be come from the window.

"But I'm on the 5th floor.."

Brock began walking cautiously toward the window, wondering what could have made that sound. As he approached it he heard it again. _Tap tap_. "What the hell is that?" He whispered to himself. He got to the window and looked out carefully. There was nothing there. He chuckled to himself. That had actually gotten his heart racing. "Must've been my imagination I guess." Then he turned around.

"Get your hands up." A man growled at Brock who was standing in the middle of his living room.

Brock jumped back shocked. The man was holding a hand gun and pointing right at him. Brock was frozen, not knowing what to do.

"I said get your fucking hands up!" the man hissed as he cocked the gun.

"Okay okay!" Brock said as he raised his arms slowly. "What do you want?M- Money? My wallet is in my briefcase…."

"I don't want your money." The man said slowly. He wore a complete black outfit. His pants, shoes, jacket, hat…all black. Then Brock noticed a small red R on the left side of the jacket.

"Team Rocket…"

"So you've heard of us." The man smiled at him, still holding the gun right at Brock's head. "Yo 'Ness. Do your deed."

Brock gasped as he saw a beautiful woman in the corner of the room. She had black hair and pale skin and just about as tall as Brock. She was wearing a Rocket uniform too. Brock couldn't figure out how he didn't notice her before, or how they even got into his apartment.

She walked slowly to Brock, eyeing every inch of him. She held a syringe in her hand.

"What the hell is that for?" Brock asked, startled as he jumped back from the woman.

"Didn't I say not to move? You move one more time and this bullet is going right through your head." The man growled. "She's going to inject you with that. Stand still like your life depended on it. Which it does."

The beautiful woman moved towards Brock and lifted the needle to his neck. She looked at Brock with her black eyes as he looked at her with his full of terror. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Goodnight." She said softly as she injected Brock. He slowly closed his eyes and fell into a heap on the floor.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The double doors on the opposite side of Ash's locker opened up. A man with a black suit smiled at Ash.

"Are you ready, champ?"

Ash looked up as he got pulled from his thoughts by the man's question. Standing up slowly, he walked up to his locker and grabbed six poke balls. He clipped the poke balls to his belt, one by one. Ash was wearing black khaki's, black shoes, a white shirt and a black jacket that was given to him by his mother on his 20th birthday. He kept his hair a bit shorter these days, but still had his trademark straight out of bed look. He walked by the man at the door.

"I'm not the champion." Ash told the man without looking at him as he walked into the tunnel which led to the battle field in the Indigo stadium. He could hear the roaring crowds already as he counted his steps. What Ash had told the man was true. He was not the champion. Though he had beaten three of the four champions already. This was Ash's final mission. His dream of becoming a Pokemon Master was about to come true or be shot down in the next hour or so. Ash had almost completed all the requirements to be given the title and honor of being a Master. To become a Master he has to beat the Elite four of each region including the champion, the tricky part being that once he beat a champion, he had to relinquish the title if he wanted to go for a master title. The closest he has come to losing was against Cynthia in Sinnoh. He's now conquered three regions with one to go. Kanto. Ash was able to get through the Kanto's Elite four, and now only their Champion remained in his way to become Master. The last person ever to complete the requirements was about twenty years ago.

The whole world had been watching his ascension and now it was time. Ash came out of the tunnel and looked up the crowd. His adoring fans roaring away as he walked to his trainer's box.

"_Ash Ketchum is ready to go!"_ The announcer yelled as the crowd went into another frenzy.

Ash saw a figure walking into the stadium from a tunnel from the opposite side. A tall, intimidating man wearing a cloak around himself.

The crowd went crazy as they caught a glimpse of him. A deafening roar of fans screaming at the top of their lungs.

"_Ladies and Gentleman! Introducing Kanto's Champion trainer! Lance!"_


	2. Chapter 2

Brock woke up at the sound of some distant car engines. He felt himself lying on cold cement floor. His brain was still hazy from being drugged by the Rocket member. His eyelids ached as he slowly opened his blood shot eyes and looked around in the darkness. There was absolutely no light. _Where am I? Oh no…my apartment..the Rocket members…_He had remembered what had happened in his apartment when he was about to watch Ash's match on television. He tried to move his arms to pick himself up but was quick to realize the tight handcuffs holding his hands behind his back. _This is just great_. The repulsive feeling of nausea crept slowly up the back of his throat. Whatever they injected into his blood stream must have been powerful. Then he remembered the woman…the brunette who slowly walked toward him to fill him with the chemical. She was beautiful and as deadly as a snake apparently. But now he had no idea where he was, or what they planned on doing to him. Panic slowly started to flow through his body.

The sound of engines in the distance roared to a halt. His pulse rising as he heard the passengers close the doors to the vehicles. _This is not happening_. He squeezed his eyes shut. _What the hell did I do to deserve this?...Am I just going to..to lie here and find out what they want? Hell no. Not happening. I have to do something._ He rolled to his side and hoisted himself up using his shoulders and got on his feet. Feeling dizzy after the sudden change of position, he stared into the darkness waiting for his eyes to adjust. There didn't seem to be any windows or furniture in the room, everything was made of cold hard cement. He walked toward one of the walls and felt it with his cuffed hand. The cement was moist. _I must be underground_. He continued feeling his way along the wall looking for a door until his handcuffed hand found a door handle. Brock started turning the handle and with any luck it would be unlocked. _Nope…Locked…of course_. His hands started to sweat as his momentary surge of determination faltered. There seemed to be no hope to get out of this room. _Unless I somehow figured out how to get through the cement walls using his teeth,_ he thought sarcastically.

Suddenly he heard quick footsteps approaching the door. The sound was muffled but it sounded like…high heels? Years of experience of chasing after hot girls had at least taught him to recognize the sound of some pumps. He listened carefully as the footsteps stopped right in front of the door. A small window at the center of the door opened and blinded Brock as light came through.

"Back up to the back wall." A woman's voice demanded, "Now."

Brock thought for a moment then conceded and slowly started walking backwards to the back wall, trying to get a glimpse of the woman standing behind the wooden door. He knew asking questions at the moment would just worsen the situation, so he decided against it. Brock slowly forced his expression to show one of anger, knowing that showing certain emotions, like freight, might work against him.

The woman unlocked the door and creaked it open. The hallway was well lit behind the woman and it's light shined throughout the room. Brock was able to see the woman clearly now, it was the brunette, the same woman who injected him and made him pass out. She had a hand gun holstered on her hip. Brock gulped loudly.

"Ness right?" Brock asked as she approached him.

"I prefer Vanessa," she said calmly. Her silky voice sent chills down Brock's spine. But this was no time to start hounding over some pretty girl.

"My name's Brock."

"I know who you are," she snapped, surprising Brock.

"Then you know why I'm here…" Brock stated as he felt his temper flaring. The stress of the situation had left him with little control of himself. "I have not done anything to Team Rocket. Please tell me why I'm here."

Vanessa looked inquisitively at Brock after noticing a shift in his gestures. She stopped walking towards him when she was within arm's length. "No, you haven't done anything to Team Rocket…not yet." She said as she reached into her back pocket and took out a black bandana. "I'm going to blind fold you so turn around." Brock reluctantly slowly turned around after eyeing her gun and faced the wall, still not trusting the woman. "As to the reason of why you're here, well let's just say you have become one valuable piece of treasure to our president. But why should I spoil all the fun? I'll just let Giovanni tell you himself."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"No!Charizard!"

Ash sprinted onto the battle field through the debris. Barely able to see his fire pokemon's silhouette after the violent hyper beam bore into Charizard's chest. _Please be okay, please_. As Ash ran through the smoke, the crowd began to grow nervous for the pokemon's well being. Lance's Dragonite unleashed one of the most powerful hyper beams ever witnessed by league audiences. Dragonite had come in after Charizard had defeated Lance's Aerodactyl in spectacular fashion. Charizard had enough juice to take on Dragonite but in the end proved too much for the fiery pokemon. A collective gasp was heard throughout the stadium which was held silent by the uncertainty regarding Charizard's well being. The smoked had started to clear after the attack, and showed Ash kneeling in front of Charizard's body.

"C'mon buddy. Open your eyes." Ash whispered his plea.

Charizard flickered open his eyes and let out a muffled growl, a sure sound of pain. Ash's eyes wandered to his wing, which laid in the most unnatural angle.

"Oh no," Ash said to himself with worry showered over his facial features. "His wing is broken….Medic! Bring a medic!"

Two men ran onto the field wearing white uniforms and starting looking over the pokemon. The crowd waited anxiously after registering the events that had just transpired.

"His wing is fractured, sir. You should put him in his poke ball and we'll take him over to the pokemon center immediately." One of the medics said urgently.

Ash immediately retrieved Charizard, and after saying a few words to the medics made his way over to his trainer box. Charizard was one of Ash's most powerful pokemon. Everyone knew the chances of winning against Lance were dropping by the second.

"_Charizard is out of the match! We wish it a speedy recovery after receiving such a devastating blow from Dragonite. And now Ash must pick his next pokemon. He has only two left, with Lance still having three_!" the announcer yelled through the speaker phone. The crowd starting cheering Ash on, supporting the brave trainer.

Lance stood ready. This powerful trainer was not going to hold anything back against Ash, even if it meant hurting his pokemon. Though he did not personally like inflicting damage on any living thing, during a match, he was known to annihilate his opposition. Killer instinct flowed through the veins of Kanto's most powerful trainer.

Ash stared daggers into Lance. Standing in his trainer's box, he took a moment to seize the severity of the moment. The crowd chanting and cheering him on was like rain drops to a burning forest. There was nothing he wanted more than to win. He did not prepare for this battle for the last few years just to lose. Ash's temperature started to rise as he felt his drive kicking in, flowing through his body in harmony, delivering the necessary energy that was needed to impose his will over the match. This was what Ash was known for, being so clutch at the end of matches and being able to pull through, even though the odds were against him. There was no way he would let this go. _I will crush you, Lance. No matter what it takes. I will not lose._

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After being escorted to Giovanni's office, Brock sat in a comfortable chair, still handcuffed. Vanessa was standing in one of the corners, waiting for her superior to come in. Brock shifted his eyes around the beautifully decorated office, with a large wooden desk and a leather chair in the center of the room waiting for its owner. Vanessa had been dead silent, even after a few questions from Brock, which he eventually gave up trying to ask.

After a few moments, the door swung open, and a tall man wearing a black suit walked through the door. He had slick black hair and a light smell of fine cologne filled the room. Vanessa saluted the man as he made his way to the leather chair and sat down. Tension filled the room as the man silently studied Brock with a scowl on his face. Brock was held speechless. He had so much to say and the intentions to question him but was held frozen by the intimidating man.

"Hello, Brock. My name is Giovanni." The man said in a low voice with a smile. Brock didn't say a word.

Giovanni looked down to Brock's hands and grimaced. "Can you please take the handcuffs off of our guest? I don't want him to think we're uncivilized you know." Vanessa quickly went over to Brock and quickly unlocked the handcuffs and quickly whispered into Brock's ear.

"You try anything I'll shoot you." She quickly made her way back to her corner.

"So Mr. Slate," Giovanni said looking at a few papers on his desk. "Do you know why you're here?"

Brock looked at Giovanni, temper flaring. "How would I? I had a syringe stuck into my neck after I got ambushed in my apartment, then woke up on a cold floor in handcuffs in some random room, now I'm here." He was trying to keep his voice controlled. He had no intention of pissing off someone that could have him killed in a second.

"Right. Well I'm not going to try to sugar coat anything, Brock. I'm going to tell you exactly why you're here in a moment, and I want you to listen very carefully when I do, but first I was to show you something."

A small blank flat screen lifted out of the wooden desk, as Giovanni retrieved the control from his drawer. He pressed a button and an image appeared on the screen. The black and white image showed a familiar living room with a few children playing on the ground, and others watching television. The camera zoomed in to show the faces of these children. Brock gasped. The familiar living was somewhere that Brock had spent countless hours in. The image showed his family. His brothers and sisters in Pewter City. The camera was in their home. On the screen, Brock's father stepped into the living room and gave one of the children a plate of food. It seemed like a normal evening for the family. And every single one of them were completely oblivious to who was watching them.

"What the fuck is this?" Brock yelled as he jerked up from his chair.

"Sit down now!" Vanessa yelled as she quickly put the gun on Brock's temple. The tension in the room skyrocketed. Giovanni had not moved a muscle. He simply smiled at Brock's reaction. Brock had not yet listened to Vanessa's instructions either.

"I suggest you listen to her," Giovanni said slowly. "She'll kill you. And I need you alive."

Brock slowly sat down again, looking over to his family on the screen. He could not believe that somehow, someway Team Rocket had installed a camera in his family's home. He was terrified with the possibilities of what Giovanni might say next. Anger began to morph into fear.

"Listen carefully Brock." Giovanni's expression suddenly turned serious. "I'm a very straight forward man. And I only like to say things once. You're going to do a few things for me over the next few months. And you will oblige completely. Because if you don't…every person you see on this screen…will be dead. We have agents surrounding the area waiting for that command." Giovanni stood up and looked at his watch. "I don't have much time to explain this so I'll be brief."

Brock's heart dropped. Tears began appearing at the corners of his eyes. His family was being threatened by this monster and if he did not do what he was told they were going to be killed. His thoughts were in a whirlwind, he felt like he was having trouble breathing.

"Vanessa will be giving you instructions on your assignments throughout the coming months. For now, you're going back to your home here in Sinnoh. Again, you do everything we assign to you or your family will be killed, and you left alive. Just so you can feel the pain a bit more," Giovanni said with yet another smirk appearing on his sharp features. "You tell anyone, we'll know. You warn your family, we'll know. So don't give me any reason to order the hit on your family. Vanessa is going to inject you again with the same tranquilizer and return you home. Don't give anyone any trouble or you know what will happen."

And with that, Giovanni walked out the office. Brock was held petrified by this onslaught of information. How could have this have happened? What did they want him for? Now the only thing he could do was think about his brothers and sisters. His father. _They did nothing wrong! _He thought desperately.

The office was now dead silent. Brock had not moved throughout the whole explanation. He silently was having a chaotic storm of thoughts as he stared at nothing in front of him. He felt a small prick on his neck, and a warm, stinging fluid entering his body. Completely ignoring it, Brock let himself slip into the abyss of unconsciousness. Where nothing hurt.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"C'mon Ash! I know you can do this!" A certain red head screamed at the top of her lungs from the stadium stands.

"Deliah! Your gonna fall over!" A worried Professor Oak grabbed Ash's mom as she almost toppled over the rail while yelling instructions frantically to her son. She was always his absolute, undisputed number one fan.

The crowds frenzied over the battle between Lance and Ash. "_A double K.O. ladies and gents! The trainers are down to their last Pokemon! This match has been epic! The winner between this single one on one confrontation will walk away the victor_!"

Misty's eyes dazzled as she cheered her best friend on as everyone drew quite. Silently waiting to see the choices of these spectacular trainers. She whistled sharply at Ash, and somehow through thousands and thousands of people, got his attention. He looked at her warmly and smiled. Misty signaled Ash and responded with a nod, recognizing her gesture. Lance did not expect what was coming next. And Misty knew it would come with all of Ash's fury.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I took forever to update but here it is. Short and sweet. I'm debating whether or not to keep writing this story. I definitely know what direction to take this story as the plot is more or less planned out. But I have no clue as to whether you guys like it or not. Let me know in the reviews!**

Chapter 3

Little by little, Brock started coming out of the realm of unconsciousness. He felt cold sweat dampening his clothes and his muscles felt tense. He tried looking around the room and he thought he saw someone standing in front of him. He tried rubbing his eyes to remove the blurriness from his vision.

"Wake up my sweet prince." He heard the figure say in a silky voice.

As his vision cleared, he saw Vanessa leaning toward him looking into his eyes. As much as he would have started in reaction to seeing her again, he lay still on his bed, still numb from lingering tranquilizer. She slowly leaned in closer, close enough that he could smell her perfume. She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. Heat rushed throughout his body at the touch. Her lips felt so soft and gentle, the complete opposite of the venomous aura this woman emanates. Feeling her lips on his felt so good for the moment, but Brock jerked himself out of the kiss and shoved her back with all his strength.

"You got a twisted sense of humor." Brock spat as she hit the floor with a thud.

Vanessa's face twisted into rage as she picked her herself off the floor and stood up straight. Her flawless figure mesmerized him. She whipped her hair back and her murderous expression melted away and took on a look of puzzlement on her face.

"No one has ever pushed me off before." She said, and somehow, Brock observed, this seemed to please her. "I guess I have to try harder next time right?"

"Please leave." Brock said as he sat up and looked around, realizing that he was in his apartment again. As promised by the leader of Team Rocket. The thought of him made Brock shiver. Vanessa looked at Brock a few more seconds, then slowly walked over to his window and opened it. With one swift movement she jumped out of the fifth floor window.

Horrified, Brock jumped out of bed and ran over to the window to see if she had hurt herself after leaping off something so high. He stuck his head out of the window and looked around; she was nowhere to be seen. He slammed the window shut.

"What the hell do I care if she gets hurt?" Brock cursed at himself.

Brock walked over to his bed and sat down. He looked at the marks on his wrists from the handcuffs that he wore at Giovanni's place. So it hadn't been a bad dream. It had been a real life nightmare. He mentally went through everything that had transpired in Giovanni's office. Of course, Vanessa's presence in his apartment had cemented the fact that the confrontation in that office had been real. He was still wishing that it wasn't. He wished with all his might that it _had_ been a dream.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A sudden calm washed over Ash's body. His heart rate had been sky high throughout the whole match, something that is quite usual because of the excitement that battles give him. But now, his heart was calm and steady. As was his entire body, mind, and spirit. He could still hear the roaring crowd in the distance, but the sound became faint. His vision tunneled and all he could see was the battle field, and Lance. It was time to perform. The stakes could not be any higher, and his opposition more fierce. It was all or nothing with this one on one battle.

"_Ladies and Gentleman! We finished checking the record books and this here is the first Master qualifying battle that has ever gone down to the last two Pokemon! This is history in the making so don't you dare go to the bathroom_!" The crowd went insane as the announcer bellowed through the loud speaker.

Lance had noticed the change in Ash's body language as he held his last pokeball in his hand. _What is he up to? Something is different about him _he thought. The vibe had completely changed and he did not like it. Not one bit. He felt that even though the two were dead even in the number of Pokemon left, that he still held the advantage. No way was he going to let Ash win. _Ash isn't ready for victory, not today_. Lance untied his cape and threw it violently to the sidelines. The crowd kept cheering. Meanwhile, the challenger did nothing. Ash had not moved a muscle.

Ash stood still staring Lance down in his all black outfit. His jacket was open revealing a white shirt and the pokeballs on this belt. Ash swiftly grabbed the last pokemon he had left making Lance jump at his sudden movement.

Lance growled under his breath. He hoped no one had seen that. "Time to get the party started my friend."

"I agree." Ash answered Lance.

"You really think you can win don't you?" Lance seethed. "You have a lot to learn still, not many people.."

"Sorry to interrupt your sure to be long speech but, let's get on with the match." Ash said. The crowd started roaring at the exchange. Small microphones were placed around the battle field so that everyone could hear the commands that the trainers were yelling to their Pokemon, but that also included any words the trainers might have for each other.

Lance chuckled, he couldn't believe Ash. How dare he talk to him like that? Only one way to shut him up it seemed. He reached back and threw his pokeball on the battle field. The beautiful glow of a pokemon emerging lit up the field revealing Lance's not so little surprise, a Metagross.

"A Metagross?" Misty yelped. She looked over to the puzzled Professor.

"Now this is surprising." The Professor said keeping his cool.

"How can he have a pokemon that's battle ready that we don't know about?" she looked back onto the field where the large pokemon stared Ash down, waiting to see who was his opponent. Extremely high profile trainers, such as Lance, are analyzed extensively to the point where surprises like this were extremely uncommon. Having a new pokemon that's never be seen before with the trainer, let alone bring the pokemon out on such an important match, was at the top of most "things most likely to never happen" lists.

The Professors eyes perked up. He gazed at the creature and asked Deliah for her binoculars. "Something is wrong with the Metagross, Misty." The professor said ignoring Misty's question.

"Wrong?" She gazed over to the behemoth. "He looks fine to me Professor. Look at the size of his limbs; he looks strong and well aged."

"It's something else." He handed her the binoculars. "See the corners of its eyes?"

She focused the binoculars to the pokemon's eyes. Some type of liquid substance was leaking from them it seemed. "Is he…crying?" Misty looked over to the professor once more, looking for an answer.

"No. Metagross don't have tear ducts. It's mucous."

"Eww. Gross. So what does that mean?"

"I need to make a phone call. This might be severe but I need to make sure. I'll be right back." With that the professor stood up and walked into the stadium hallway.

"Severe?" Misty pondered. "I just hope it doesn't affect Ash somehow."

"Ash wait!" The professor yelled to the trainer as he ran onto the battle field.

Ash was about to throw his pokeball when he heard the professor's voice. He slowly turned around. Growing angry as to what could possibly be the reason to why the professor was interrupting the most important match of his life.

The professor reached Ash, panting and out of breath.

"Are you trying to get me disqualified!" Ash yelled out.

"Ash hold on, listen to me." The professor said quickly. "Look at.."

"_Ladies and gentleman! It seems like one of Ash's coaches has ran out into the field!" The announcer interrupted."The referees are communicating about a penalty resulting this action."_

"Professor. This is not the…"

"Listen to me!" Professor Oak yelled."I just got off the phone with Professor Roland and he verified my hunch. Look into the eyes of Lance's Metagross."

Ash turned around and looked. "Is that…mucous?"

"Precisely."

"What does that mean?"

"That pokemon has been poisoned." Oak stated. Ash's eyes grew wide as he looked back at the pokemon. Metagross' limbs were also trembling slightly. Ash remembered something like that when reading about the Metagross specie. Metagross eat a certain type of plant regularly for nutrition in the wild. But there is another plant that looks just like it that is extremely poisonous and potentially fatal. When Metagross eat the poisonous plant, confusing it for what they normally eat, it becomes physically apparent when a mucous like substance starts coming out of their eyes. Since Metagross have no pores on their skin, they release the toxin through their eyes. "It looks like Lance has not noticed, but there is no way that Pokemon would be in that condition without living in the wild unless…" The professor stopped before he continued. He did not have the evidence to accuse anyone of anything.

"Unless it was intentional." Ash finished.

The referee approached Ash as the crowd grew restless. Ash quickly tried to think of the options he had at the moment.

"Mr. Ketchum." The referee stood in front of Professor Oak and Ash. "You must ask him to leave immediately before you are disqualified from the match."

Ash stared at the ground at the moment thinking about his next move. He did not order the professor away and just stood motionless. It seemed like everyone in the stadium was holding their breath. No one knew what was happening or what was coming next. Lance also stared continually at the challenger, getting more and more irritated by the second.

"I forfeit the match." Ash stated as entire stadium let out a collective gasp. Seconds later, the Metagross keeled over and hit the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Hello?"

"…"

"Hello? Anyone.."

"Hi…It's me."

"Hey, son! How are you?"

"Im fine…Uh, how is everyone..?"

"Just fine. It's been a while since we've heard from you."

"I know...I'm so sorry dad... I really should call more often. It's just that with running this…."

"Whoa whoa. I didn't say it to make you feel bad. I'm just really glad you called. I know that you must be very busy."

"Even so…I will be keeping in contact much more now. Family is too important to lose touch right?"

"Of course. I've learned that as well. So what's…No honey! Put that down….Sorry. Your little sister is a handful. So what's new?

"Nothing much. I…I just wanted to see how everyone was. Everything_ is_ ok right?"

"Yes…yes it is. Is everything ok with you? You sound a bit worried."

"Me? Worried? Not in the slightest. Um…I'm going to be headed over there tomorrow to visit all of you, that's why I called."

"You are?! That's great news! I can't wait to see you, son. Really."

"Me too, dad. Well…I gotta go start packing so I'll let you go."

"Okay. Sounds good. Just give me a call if you need a ride from the airport okay? See you tomorrow."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I just wanted you to know that…I love you all. Very much."

"…We love you too, son."

"Bye, dad."

"Bye, son." *Click*

"Good boy." Another voice in the receiver said. Brock's heart beat skyrocketed at the sound of her voice. Had she been listening to the whole conversation?

"Va..Vanessa?" Brock stuttered.

"The one and only. Just making sure you don't do anything to jeopardize your family's life." The Team Rocket Agent said through the line. "You did a good job though. We wouldn't want any accidents happening to the Slate family do we?"

Brock slammed the phone with all his might. His chest heaved in and out and his emotions whirled through feelings of anger, desperation, and freight. Team Rocket seems to be keeping very close tabs on him. He gazed around his apartment, wondering what other methods that organization was using to keep track of what he was doing…and saying.

"This is bullshit…" Brock muttered to himself.

He grabbed a duffle bag and started packing his belongings to begin his journey into Kanto.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Ash sat still in his locker room, alone for the moment, thinking about what transpired on the battle field. He thought about the decision he made to forfeit the match. He knew he did right choice from a just stand point, but he didn't know if what he did was right for _him_. After Professor Oak ran out onto the field and told him about the Metagross' condition, Ash had about ten seconds to think and act. Hardly enough time to make such an important choice. Even now in a few moments he had to talk to the horde of reporters that are looking for answers as to what had happened out there. He felt he needed to talk to Lance too. Just to straighten things out before going out there.

*Knock knock*

"Ash?" Misty said as she opened the door.

Ash looked up at his old friend. Her sound of her voice always seemed to refresh his spirit, making him feel just a little bit better, no matter how bad a situation might be. "Hey, Mist." He smiled at her. "Come in."

She felt relieved to see Ash smile. She was worried that he wouldn't want to talk to her at the moment. Ash did not take his eyes off her as she walked across the room toward him. She looked as beautiful as ever to him. She left her shoulder length hair down these days, showing off that gorgeous red hue of hers. She sat down next to him on one of the leather arm chairs.

She studied his face for a moment, trying to discern what he was feeling at the moment. "Quite a surprise you gave everyone out there."

Ash's smile disappeared at the mention of it. Misty instantly regretted bring that up so quickly. She should have known this was really hard on him. After all, the consequences of such a noble act…could be horrific. "I was just as surprised...", Ash said.

"Ash…" She had to choose her words carefully she thought. "I want you know that whatever happens, you absolutely did do the right thing okay? I know it that if..."

"Did I really, Mist?" he interrupted. He looked at her with the most heart breaking eyes she had ever seen. "I just lost the biggest match of my entire life, and not because I wasn't good enough or I somehow choked the match away. It was because…I didn't take advantage of an opportunity my opponent gave me." Ash turned his head down. "Whatever misplaced sense of nobility or self-righteousness I have inside me, really fucked me over this time."

Ash caught Misty off guard with what he was saying. He was right, in a way. It wasn't his fault that Lance did not check his Pokémon's health before the match_. Lance _was responsible for that, and he should be the one paying the price, not Ash.

Ash kept looking at the ground, not moving a muscle while Misty thought of a different approach. She swiftly got off her chair and walked across the room.

"So, Ash." she said in a completely different tone. "You would have liked to have won right?"

Ash looked up at her incredulously. "What do you think?"

"I think yes." She smiled. "So would you have liked winning with an asterisk on your title?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"If you would have won with Metagross keeling over like that, you would have won by default, don't you think? Not because you beat him straight up, but because you had an advantage. Fair or unfair, but still an advantage. Would _you_ be satisfied with that?"

She left him dumbfounded. It took him a couple of seconds to answer.

"No I wouldn't." he said sternly.

She smiled and walked over to him. "Then? What are you so pissed about? You would have won the match, but the glory would have not belonged to you and you know that."

Ash couldn't help but smile a bit as he looked at her.

She continued. "Professor Oak is already talking to members of the Board of Directors about giving you a rematch with Lance instead of you having to go through the qualifying matches again, considering the circumstances of the match of course. You have everything in your favor, Ash. Everyone saw what you did out there, there would be an uproar of protest if you're not given your opportunity to battle again. So you're glad you did what you did right? You acted on your instincts, which are usually spot on."

Ash stood up in front of Misty and let out a small laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" She said

"Nothing." He said with a smile. "You just know me so well, Mist."

That made her heart skip a bit. She loved it when he smiled at her like that. "And so you know…your nobility and righteousness are not misplaced, as you said. They are where they should be."

"Thanks." He said as he closed his eyes for a moment, letting all the anxiety melt away. He reopened and locked with hers. "You made me feel a lot better in mere minutes, when I felt the worst I have felt in years, Mist. You really know your way around my head don't you?"

"Well when I have had to put up with all your crap over the years I had no choice but to pick some things up." She teased. "Well Ashy-boy. Time for you to face all those reporters you love so much."

"Right." he said as he grabbed his belongings. "And if you call me that again, Ms. Waterflower, I'll make sure you have twenty Caterpie sneak in your room at tonight."

"All bark and no bite, sir!" she screamed as Ash started chasing after her as she ran out of the locker room.


End file.
